Timber Culture Act

When preparing for my Christmas trip to Washington, D.C., I took another look at the Dakota Territorial homestead records I found on my previous trip.

Franklin Hesse’s Testimony of [Homestead] Claimant, page 1:¹Homestead file No. 3941, Franklin Hesse, May 21, 1888, Fargo, North Dakota Land Office; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. Testimony of Claimant, dated May 4, 1888.

Question 7

Have you ever made a pre-emption filing for any other tract of land, or made any other homestead entry or filing or entry of any kind? (Answer each question separately, describe the land, and state what disposition you made or your claim.)

“I never made a preemption filing on any other tract of land or any other homestead entry or filing of any kind except a T.C. on the N2 of the NE4,   SW4 of NE & SE of NW4 of Sec 34 Twp 134 R61. I disposed of the relinquishment of the T.C.”

What is a T.C.?

Timber Culture Act

A timber claim (T.C.) is a cousin of a homestead claim.

Like the Homestead Act of 1862, the Timber Culture Act of 1873 granted a claimant 160 acres of land for no cost (only a $10 filing fee plus $4 recording fee) . Each applicant promised to plants trees on a certain number of acres of the land. [The Preemption Act of 1841 allowed settlers to claim up to 160 acres of federal land for themselves by paying $1.25-$2.50 per acre.]

One of the goals of the Timber Culture Act was to increase the number of trees in the American West. Some scientists (and politicians) believed that tress would increase rainfall. In the U.S. Senate, the proposed act was “to encourage the growth of timber, not merely for the benefit of  the soil, not merely for the value of the timber itself, but for its influence upon the climate.”²The Congressional Globe, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1871-72, Part V. Washington: F & J Rives & George A. Bailey, 1872, p. 4464.

Some farmers and ranchers saw the Timber Culture Act as a way to get free use of the land. They could file a claim and use the land for crops or grazing. ³North Dakota Studies: Timber Culture Act. https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-2-making-living/topic-4-federal-legislation/section-3-timber-culture-act. Accessed 19 December 2023.

Problems with the Timber Culture Act

In some locations, claimants were able to successfully grow trees. However, in Dakota Territory much of the land available for timber claims was arid grassland where trees could not survive.

There were loopholes in the Act which allowed access to this “free” government land. The law did not require a person to live on the land (or even live in the same state). Family members could give timber claims to other family members. Across the West, only about thirty percent of Timber Culture Act claims were successfully completed.⁴MNOpedia. Timber Culture Act, 1873. https://www.mnopedia.org/thing/timber-culture-act-1873#:~:text=The%20goal%20of%20the%20Timber,planted%2025%2C000%20acres%20of%20trees. (accessed 19 December 2023).

C. Marron McIntosh wrote an academic report about the Timber Culture Act in 1975.⁵McIntosh, C. Barron. “Use and Abuse of the Timber Culture Act.” Annals Of The Association Of American Geographers 65, no. 3 (September 1975): 347-362. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 19, 2023). He stated that among the abuses of the Law were individuals looking to selling a relinquished claim due to rapidly increasing land values, families relinquishing to family members, homesteaders acquiring a tree claim for the specific purpose of selling the relinquishment to help finance development of their homestead farming operations, ranchers using the tree claim as a holding and controlling tool, and land agents hawking relinquishments for fees and a percentage of the relinquishment.

Congress repealed the Act in 1891.

Relinquishment

The voluntary cancelling of a timber claim was called relinquishment. A claimant filled a form at the land office. Then, the purchaser of this released land filed the necessary paperwork, paid the fee, and claimed the land.

Franklin Hesse relinquished his Timber Claim

Dakota Territory Tract Book, LaMoure County Township 134, Section 34, Range 61⁶Bureau of Land Improvement. Tract Book 52 (Dakota Territory).” United States Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C. FamilySearch Database with images (accessed October 19, 2023).

Timber Culture Entry (T.C.E) of Franklin Hesse:

• Filed June 3, 1881
• Canceled October 28, 1887

What’s Next?

Who are the other T.C.E. individuals listed in this Tract Book? (Ellsworth, Aptiz, Freyberger)
Are they related? How?
Did they claim the same land?
When did each claimant relinquish his/her Timber Culture Entry?
Where is this Timber Claim in relation to Franklin Hesse’s homestead?

SOURCES

• 1
  Homestead file No. 3941, Franklin Hesse, May 21, 1888, Fargo, North Dakota Land Office; Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. Testimony of Claimant, dated May 4, 1888.
• 2
  The Congressional Globe, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1871-72, Part V. Washington: F & J Rives & George A. Bailey, 1872, p. 4464.
• 3
  North Dakota Studies: Timber Culture Act. https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-2-making-living/topic-4-federal-legislation/section-3-timber-culture-act. Accessed 19 December 2023.
• 4
  MNOpedia. Timber Culture Act, 1873. https://www.mnopedia.org/thing/timber-culture-act-1873#:~:text=The%20goal%20of%20the%20Timber,planted%2025%2C000%20acres%20of%20trees. (accessed 19 December 2023).
• 5
  McIntosh, C. Barron. “Use and Abuse of the Timber Culture Act.” Annals Of The Association Of American Geographers 65, no. 3 (September 1975): 347-362. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 19, 2023).
• 6
  Bureau of Land Improvement. Tract Book 52 (Dakota Territory).” United States Bureau of Land Management, Washington, D.C. FamilySearch Database with images (accessed October 19, 2023).